Welcome to the Tuesday Teaching Tip, an easy-to-implement tool that you can use immediately in your classroom teaching.
TUESDAY TEACHING TIP: Fostering Belonging
The SCU Class of 2027 includes 195 first-generation students (students whose parents did not graduate from a 4-year college or university). How can we design and cultivate inclusive classrooms in which first-generation students in particular feel prepared, confident, and that they belong?
This week, we’d like to encourage you to take a moment to reflect on ways you can cultivate academic belonging in your courses this term.
Here are a few ways to do it
- Schedule an office hour just before or after your classes, and/or show up early and linger after class to offer opportunities for regular check-ins with students.
- Dedicate time in class to discuss study strategies and ways to succeed in your course.
- Help students create peer study groups.
- If you teach intro-level courses, make sure they are pitched towards people new to the material rather than a review of what students “should have learned in high school.”
- Connect students with important resources on campus, such as the HUB Writing Center, Math Learning Center, Learning Commons, Drahmann Advising and Learning Resources Center, LEAD Scholars,and Wellness Center and create low stakes assignments to incentivize students to familiarize themselves with these resources, such as an informational interview or extra credit for attending a HUB tutoring session.
DID YOU DO IT?
Let us know how it went. We would love to hear your feedback about how you implemented today’s Tuesday Teaching Tip in your classroom. Click here to fill out our 3-question survey.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Come to the first CAFE (Conversations Advancing Faculty Excellence) TODAY at 12:15pm in Varsi 222! In this session, Partnering for Teaching and Student Success, you will learn about campus resources available to all faculty. Lunch provided. Show up even if you didn’t sign up.
- Come to our Teaching First Generation College Students CAFE next week, Monday, October 7, 11:45 - 12:45 in Varsi 222 (lunch provided). You’ll leave with insights and practical strategies to use in curriculum design and in class teaching. Sign up here.
- Be on the lookout for information about additional programming focused on enhancing student belonging throughout the fall. See our full calendar of events here.
WANT TO READ A LITTLE MORE?
This week’s Tuesday Teaching Tip was prepared by Cara Chiaraluce & Long Le on behalf of the Faculty Collaborative.
Missed a teaching tip? Read them all here.
And check out our full calendar of CAFEs and other Faculty Development and Faculty Collaborative events.
